Stop asking the middle class to subsidize businesses like Boeing

On Monday, Boeing announced a new $12 billion buyout of their stock after just completing a $6 billion buyback of stock last year. This makes shareholders wealthier while not producing a single new job.

Boeing is able to do this thanks to a tax system that has increasingly favored corporations over individuals. Boeing is a good example of the internals of the U.S. economy since 2009, showing how the wealthiest have gained at the expense of workers.

Since 2008, Boeing has paid no federal income tax while making more than $26 billion in profits. In 2013 alone, Boeing made $5.9 billion while receiving a refund of $82 million. A refund!

While the official U.S. corporate tax rate is near 35 percent, the effective rate, the average rate actually paid by corporations, is near 15 percent. This effective rate is one of the lowest in U.S. history, down from an effective rate near 40 percent in the boom years of the 1950s.

The underpaying of taxes by businesses is being felt by all other taxpayers as we are forced to pay out a higher percentage of our incomes to just maintain essential services. The effective corporate tax rate should be raised by eliminating ridiculous tax credits and deductions to bring rates more in line with corporate profits. The middle class must stop being asked to subsidize multi-billion dollar businesses.

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